Spoiling the Broth since February, 2004.

Comments: Fusion Food or Just Plain Wrong?

Comments

I couldn't agree with you more it ain't fusion, it's just plainn wrong! I haven't been in a few years, and was just reaching the point where, on walking by the other day, I though "It can't be as bad as I remember". Thanks for saving me from disappointment!

Claire, thanks for the support. My husband snorted when I told him about your comment! I have to say (though it sounds sooo egotistical) that the only decent Mexican food I've had in Paris was made in my own kitchen. Thank heavens for Mexi & Co!

Fusion Tex-Mex? If you said the word "fusion" in Texas, or tried to put blue cheese on a tostada I believe you might just find yourself neck deep in the desert with a bunch of red ants coming for dinner.

It's because they think all cheddar cheese is Kraft Mac-a-chee neon orange.

Getting back to the Germany issue, I remember when I lived there ten years ago that every time you saw the word "Mexican" to describe a dish it simply meant that someone had dumped a can of sweet corn in it or next to it! It took us a while to work that one out...!

I've seen LOTS of blue margaritas here in Houston, including the TexMex places, for many years. Blue Curacao is an orange flavored liqueur like Triple Sec is. But I didn't make very many when I bartended at a popular Hispanic bar; I either made traditional or frozen strawberry margaritas.

I've eaten a few green or red corn chips (Christmas time), but hubby tells me those are dyes (he worked at flour/corn tortilla factory), not spinach. I would think spinach would affect the flavor of the chips, but I'd give it a try since I had some mushroom/spinach quesadillas that were pretty good.

I think TexMex restaraunts use a mixture of white and yellow cheeses over stuff, but some just use yellow. I haven't seen blue cheese, or broccoli, in TexMex and would definately pass ;^)

I have a problem with a lot of the restaurants around here (Zürich,Switzerland) that try to do what I'd call Americanized-ethnic food, like Tex-Mex or Asian-fusion. Something always seems a little bit wrong, whether it's the wrong kind of cheese, or the wrong kind of veggie mix, or something. But after about 10 years of living here or commuting to here I've learned to relax about it a bit more...so they use Gruyere instead of expensive (here) cheddar melted over tortilla chips, if it's tasty it's ok.

But I do hungrily assault the "real" Tex-Mex or NY-style-pizza or what have you places when I'm in the U.S.

Fareeha, I also enjoy fusion food when a talented cook is intelligently and creatively mixing two or more cultures. One of my favorite restaurants in Chicago back in the early 90s was a place called Yoshi's; the chef had trained in France and had a wonderful mix of French and Japanese cuisines. The sauces were extraordinary.

However, in this instance I think the strange items on the menu were due to a lack of knowledge rather than intent to experiment. When that is the case, it's a bit of a toss-up whether the result will be good or just strange.

That said, I admit I'm a little prejudiced about Mexican food as it's so hard to find here in Paris!